Freedom 7, the first piloted Mercury spacecraft (No.7) carrying Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr., was launched from Cape Canaveral by Mercury-Redstone (MR3) launch vehicle, to an altitude of 115 nautical miles and a range of 302 miles. It was the first American space flight involving human beings. Shepard demonstrated that individuals can control a vehicle during weightlessness and high G stresses, and significant scientific biomedical data were acquired. He reached a speed of 5,100 miles per hour and his flight lasted 14.8 minutes.
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!2
John Glenn became the first American to circle the Earth, making three orbits in his Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft. Despite some problems with the spacecraft, Glenn flew parts of the last two orbits manually because of an autopilot failure and left his normally jettisoned retrorocket pack attached to his capsule during reentry because of a loose heat shield, this flight was enormously successful. The public, more than celebrating the technological success, embraced Glenn as a personification of heroism and dignity. Among other engagements, Glen addressed a joint session of Congress and participated in several ticker-tape parades around the country.
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!4
The capstone of Project Mercury, the flight of Faith 7, took place on this date with the flight of astronaut L. Gordon Cooper, who circled the Earth 22 times in 34 hours.
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!5
Following two unoccupied test flights, the first operational mission of Project Gemini took place on March 23, 1965. Mercury astronaut Gus Grissom commanded the mission, with John W. Young, a Naval aviator chosen as an astronaut in 1962, accompanying him.
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!6
The second piloted Gemini mission, GT-4, stayed aloft for four days and astronaut Edward H. White II performed the first extra-vehicular activity (EVA) or spacewalk by an American.
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!7
The first piloted flight of the Apollo spacecraft, Apollo 7, and Saturn IB launch vehicle, this flight involved astronauts Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Donn F. Eisele, and Walter Cunningham who tested hardware in Earth orbit.
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!8
On December 21, 1968, Apollo 8 took off atop a Saturn V booster from the Kennedy Space Center with three astronauts aboard--Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr., and William A. Anders--for a historic mission to orbit the Moon. At first it was planned as a mission to test Apollo hardware in the relatively safe confines of low Earth orbit, but senior engineer George M. Low of the Manned Spacecraft Center at Houston, Texas (renamed the Johnson Space Center in 1973), and Samuel C. Phillips, Apollo Program Manager at NASA headquarters, pressed for approval to make it a circumlunar flight. The advantages of this could be important, both in technical and scientific knowledge gained as well as in a public demonstration of what the U.S. could achieve. In the summer of 1968 Low broached the idea to Phillips, who then carried it to the administrator, and in November the agency reconfigured the mission for a lunar trip. After Apollo 8 made one and a half Earth orbits its third stage began a burn to put the spacecraft on a lunar trajectory. As it traveled outward the crew focused a portable television camera on Earth and for the first time humanity saw its home from afar, a tiny, lovely, and fragile "blue marble" hanging in the blackness of space. When it arrived at the Moon on Christmas Eve this image of Earth was even more strongly reinforced when the crew sent images of the planet back while reading the first part of the Bible--"God created the heavens and the Earth, and the Earth was without form and void"--before sending Christmas greetings to humanity. The next day they fired the boosters for a return flight and "splashed down" in the Pacific Ocean on December 27. It was an enormously significant accomplishment coming at a time when American society was in crisis over Vietnam, race relations, urban problems, and a host of other difficulties. And if only for a few moments the nation united as one to focus on this epochal event. Two more Apollo missions occurred before the climax of the program, but they did little more than confirm that the time had come for a lunar landing.
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!10
The first lunar landing mission, Apollo 11 lifted off on July 16, 1969, and after confirming that the hardware was working well began the three day trip to the Moon. At 4:18 p.m. EST on July 20, 1969, the Lunar Module--with astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin--landed on the lunar surface while Michael Collins orbited overhead in the Apollo command module. After checkout, Armstrong set foot on the surface, telling the millions of listeners that it was "one small step for a man--one giant leap for mankind." Aldrin soon followed him out and the two plodded around the landing site in the 1/6 lunar gravity, planted an American flag but omitted claiming the land for the U.S. as had routinely been done during European exploration of the Americas, collected soil and rock samples, and set up some experiments. The next day they launched back to the Apollo capsule orbiting overhead and began the return trip to Earth, "splashing down" in the Pacific on July 24.
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!11
The flight of Apollo 13 was one of the near disasters of the Apollo flight program. At 56 hours into the flight, an oxygen tank in the Apollo service module ruptured and damaged several of the power, electrical, and life support systems. People throughout the world watched and waited and hoped as NASA personnel on the ground and the crew, well on their way to the Moon and with no way of returning until they went around it, worked together to find a way safely home. While NASA engineers quickly determined that sufficient air, water, and electricity did not exist in the Apollo capsule to sustain the three astronauts until they could return to Earth, they found that the Lunar Module--a self-contained spacecraft unaffected by the accident--could be used as a "lifeboat" to provide austere life support for the return trip. It was a close-run thing, but the crew returned safely on April 17, 1970. The near disaster served several important purposes for the civil space program--especially prompting reconsideration of the propriety of the whole effort while also solidifying in the popular mind NASA's technological genius.
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!12
The first of the longer, expedition-style lunar landing missions, Apollo 15 was the first to include the lunar rover to extend the range of the astronauts on the Moon. They brought back one of the prize artifacts of the Apollo program, a sample of ancient lunar crust called the "Genesis Rock."
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!13
Apollo 17 was the last of the Apollo missions to the Moon, and the only one to include a scientist--astronaut/geologist Harrison Schmitt--as a member of the crew.
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!14
Following the launch of the orbital workshop, Skylab, on May 14, 1973, the Skylab 2 mission began. The workshop had developed technical problems due to vibrations during liftoff and the meteoroid shield--designed also to shade Skylab's workshop from the Sun's rays--ripped off, taking with it one of the spacecraft's two solar panels, and another piece wrapped around the other panel keeping it from properly deploying. In spite of this, the space station achieved a near-circular orbit at the desired altitude of 270 miles. While NASA technicians worked on a solution to the problem, an intensive ten-day period followed before the Skylab 2 crew launched to repair the workshop. After substantial repairs requiring extravehicular activity (EVA), including deployment of a parasol sunshade that cooled the inside temperatures to 75 degrees Fahrenheit, by June 4 the workshop was in full operation. In orbit the crew conducted solar astronomy and Earth resources experiments, medical studies, and five student experiments. This crew made 404 orbits, in the process making three EVAs totaling six hours and 20 minutes. The first group of astronauts returned to Earth on June 22, 1973, and two other Skylab missions followed.
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!15
Launch of the orbital workshop, Skylab.
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!16
The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the first international human space flight, taking place at the height of the dΘtente between the United States and the Soviet Union during the mid-1970s. It was specifically designed to test the compatibility of rendezvous and docking systems for American and Soviet spacecraft, and to open the way for international space rescue as well as future joint missions.
To carry out this mission existing American Apollo and Soviet Soyuz spacecraft were used. The Apollo spacecraft was nearly identical to the one that orbited the Moon and later carried astronauts to Skylab, while the Soyuz craft was the primary Soviet vehicle used for cosmonaut flight since its introduction in 1967.
A universal docking module was designed and constructed by NASA to serve as an airlock and transfer corridor between the two craft. Astronauts Thomas P. Stafford, Vance D. Brand, and Donald K. Slayton took off from Kennedy Space Center on July 15, to meet the already orbiting Soyuz spacecraft. Some 45 hours later the two craft rendezvoused and docked, and then Apollo and Soyuz crews conducted a variety of experiments over a two-day period.
After separation, the Apollo vehicle remained in space an additional six days while Soyuz returned to Earth approximately 43 hours after separation. The flight was more a symbol of the lessening of tensions between the two superpowers than a significant scientific endeavor, a sharp contrast with the competition for international prestige that had fueled much of the space activities of both nations since the late 1950s.
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!17
Astronauts John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen flew Space Shuttle Columbia on the first flight of the Space Transportation System (STS-1). Columbia, which takes its name from three famous vessels including one of the first U.S. Navy ships to circumnavigate the globe, became the first airplane-like craft to land from orbit for reuse when it touched down at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California at approximately 10:21 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on April 14th after a flight of two days, six hours and almost 21 minutes.
The mission also was the first to employ both liquid- and solid-propellant rocket engines for the launch of a spacecraft carrying humans.
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!18
Astronauts Robert L. Crippen and Frederick H. Hauck piloted Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-7) on a mission to launch two communications satellites and the reusable Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS 01).
Sally K. Ride, one of three mission specialists on the first Shuttle flight with five crew members, became the first American woman astronaut. Challenger was named after the H.M.S. Challenger, an English research vessel operating from 1872 to 1876.
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!19
Astronauts Richard H. Truly and Daniel C. Brandenstein piloted Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-8) on another historic mission, carrying the first black American astronaut, Guion S. Bluford, into space as a mission specialist. The astronauts launched communications satellite Insat 1B into orbit.
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!20
Astronauts John W. Young and Brewster W. Shaw piloted Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-9) on a mission that carried the first non-U.S. astronaut to fly in the U.S. space program, West German Ulf Merbold.
Columbia also transported Spacelab 1, the first flight of this laboratory in space, carrying more than 70 experiments in 5 areas of scientific research: astronomy and solar physics, space plasma physics, atmospheric physics and Earth observations, life sciences, and materials science.
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!21
The Space Shuttle Challenger, STS-51L, was tragically destroyed and its crew of seven was killed, during its launch from the Kennedy Space Center about 11:40 a.m. The explosion occurred 73 seconds into the flight as a result of a leak in one of two Solid Rocket Boosters that ignited the main liquid fuel tank.
The crew members of the Challenger represented a cross-section of the American population in terms of race, gender, geography, background, and religion.
The explosion became one of the most significant events of the 1980s, as billions around the world saw the accident on television and empathized with any one of the several crew members killed.
The disaster prompted a thorough review of the shuttle program and NASA overall, leading to substantive reforms in the management structure, safety program, and procedures of human spaceflight.
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!22
During the flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31) the crew deployed the Hubble Space Telescope. Soon after deployment, controllers found that the telescope was flawed by a "spherical aberration," a mirror defect only 1/25th the width of a human hair, that prevented Hubble from focusing all light to a single point.
At first many believed that the spherical aberration would cripple the 43 foot-long telescope, and NASA received considerable negative publicity, but soon scientists found a way with computer enhancement to work around the abnormality and engineers planned a servicing mission to fully correct it with an additional instrument.
Even with the aberration, Hubble made many important astronomical discoveries, including striking images of galaxy M87, providing evidence of a potentially massive black hole.
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!23
Astronauts Richard O. Covey and Kenneth D. Bowersox piloted Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-61) on a highly successful mission to service the optics of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and perform routine maintenance on the orbiting observatory.
Following a precise and flawless rendezvous, grapple, and berthing of the telescope in the cargo bay of the Shuttle, the Endeavour flight crew, in concert with controllers at Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, and Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, completed all eleven planned servicing tasks during five extravehicular activities for full accomplishment of all STS-61 servicing objectives.
This included installation of a new Wide Field & Planetary Camera and sets of corrective optics for all the other instruments, as well as replacement of faulty solar arrays, gyroscopes, magnetometers, and electrical components to restore the reliability of the observatory subsystem. Endeavour then provided HST with a reboost into a 321-nautical-mile, nearly circular orbit. Re-deployment of a healthy HST back into orbit using the shuttle robotic arm occurred at 5:26 a.m. EST on December 10th, and the telescope was once again a fully operational, free-flying spacecraft with vastly improved optics.
Orbital verification of HST's improved capabilities occurred in early Jan., well ahead of the March schedule. Endeavour, the newest of the orbiters, was named after the eighteenth century vessel captained by British explorer Capt. James Cook. The new Shuttle craft took its maiden voyage in May 1992.
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!24
Astronauts Charles F. Bolden and Kenneth S. Reightler, Jr., flew Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-60) on a historic mission featuring the first Russian cosmonaut to fly on a U.S. mission in space, Mission Specialist Sergei K. Krikalev, veteran of two lengthy stays aboard the Russian Mir Space Station.
This mission underlined the newly inaugurated cooperation in space between Russia and the U.S., featuring Russia's becoming an international partner in the international space station effort involving the U.S. and its international partners.
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!25
Exactly one year after a major cooperative flight with the Russians in STS-60, NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery, this time STS-63, flew another historic mission featuring the flyby of the Russian Mir Space Station.
It also featured the first time that a woman pilot, Eileen M. Collins, flew the Space Shuttle.
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!27
President Eisenhower signed H.R. 12575, making it the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (Public Law 85-568). In his statement, he said: "The present National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) with its large and competent staff and well-equipped laboratories will provide the nucleus for NASA. The NACA has an established record of research performance and of cooperation with the armed services. The coordination of space exploration responsibilities with NACA's traditional aeronautical research functions is a natural evolution . . . [one which] should have an even greater impact on our future."
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!28
First official day of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Existing NACA facilities, personnel, policies, and advisory committees were transferred to NASA, and the NACA laboratories were renamed Research Centers.
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!29
White House statement of President Eisenhower issued, stating that "the early establishment of a communication satellite system which can be used on a commercial basis is a national objective."
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!30
NASA's Space Task Group, charged with carrying out Project Mercury and other manned space flight programs, officially became a separate NASA field element.
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!31
NASA awarded contract to General Electric for an investigation of means of storing solar heat energy in satellites.
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!32
Japanese scientist associated with Radio Research Laboratories of the Japanese Ministry of Communications began studies of space communications at NASA's Goldstone, California, USA., Deep Space Tracking Station.
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!33
A Polaris missile of the advanced A-2 design was fired from Cape Canaveral 1,600 miles down the Atlantic Missile Range. It was the third success in as many firings for the new Polaris designed to operate at a range over 1,700 miles.
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!34
First Italian launching of scientific sounding rocket in cooperative program with United States, a Nike-Cajun launched from a range in Sardinia to a height of over 100 miles, and released a cloud of sodium vapor visible for many miles.
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!35
NASA began negotiations with French Commission for Spatial and Scientific Research for conducting a cooperative Franco-American space program.
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!36
First invention award under the authority of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 given to Dr. Frank T. McClure of the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins for his satellite Doppler navigation system, the $3,000 award being presented by NASA Administrator Glennan at NASA headquarters.
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!37
NASA selected Hughes Aircraft Co. for placing of a major subcontract by Jet Propulsion Laboratory to build seven Surveyor spacecraft designed for soft landings on the Moon.
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!38
Marshall Space Flight Center awarded contract to Douglas and Chance Vought to study launching manned exploratory expedition into lunar and interplanetary space from Earth orbits.
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!39
Federal Communications Commission allocated a radio frequency to the American Telephone & Telegraph Co. to establish the first space satellite communications link between Europe and the United States on an experimental basis, a program calling for NASA launching of a series of experimental communication satellites capable of relaying telephone calls, television programs, and other messages across the Atlantic.
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!40
Under NASA contract, United Technology Corp. successfully completed ground tests of three 15,000-pound thrust segmented solid-propellant rockets. Each was made up of three 1,000-pound sections which were joined prior to firing.
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!41
Assembly of Ranger I was completed at Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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!42
James E. Webb nominated as Administrator of NASA by President Kennedy.
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!43
USAF Samos II, a 4,100-pound test satellite containing photographic equipment, placed in orbit by Atlas-Agena A from Point Arguello, California, USA.
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!44
Mercury-Redstone (MR-2) flight from Atlantic Missile Range shot Mercury capsule containing chimpanzee named Ham to 157 miles altitude and 418 miles down range. Capsule with life-support equipment functioned well but flight was 42 miles higher and 125 miles farther than programmed. Ham was recovered in good health.
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!45
An eight-engine static test firing of the Saturn test booster (Sa-T1) for 113 seconds was completed at Marshall Space Flight Center.
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!46
Life Sciences Laboratory established by NASA at Ames Research Center to augment, lead, direct, encourage, and coordinate biomedical research related to the space program.
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!47
The space surveillance system (Spasur) was formally commissioned at the Naval Weapons Laboratory, Dahlgren, Va., under the operational control of the North American Defense Command.
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!48
Voice message sent from Washington to Woomera, Australia, by way of the Moon. NASA Deputy Administrator Dryden spoke on telephone to Goldstone, Calif., which "bounced" it to the deep space instrumentation station at Woomera. The operation was held as part of the official opening ceremony of the deep space instrumentation facility site in Australia.
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!49
Sputnik VIII launched into Earth orbit by USSR, from which it placed 1,419-pound Venus probe on its course.
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!50
James E. Webb was sworn in as NASA Administrator.
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!51
NASA Explorer IX placed in orbit by four-stage Scout booster from Wallops Station, the first satellite launching from Wallops, and the first satellite boosted by a solid-fuel rocket. Explorer IX was a 12-foot diameter sphere after inflation at orbital altitude.
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!52
The last successful communication with the USSR Venus probe was made.
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!53
NASA Space Task Group selected John H. Glenn, Jr., Virgil I. Grissom, and Alan B. Shepard, Jr., to begin special training for first manned Mercury space flight.
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!54
French Veronique launched capsule containing rat (Hector) to 95-mile altitude, recovered successfully.
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!55
First known weather observation satellite, TIROS I (Television Infra-Red Observation Satellite), launched into orbit by Thor-Able, and took pictures of earth's cloud cover on a global scale from 450 miles above until June 29. TIROS I was hailed as ushering in "a new era of meteorological observing."
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!56
TIROS II weather satellite launched by Thor-Delta at AMR.
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!57
Tiros II completed 3 months in orbit, continuing useful observations beyond original estimate of useful life.
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!58
Tass announced that radio contact with the Soviet Venus probe could not be established.
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!59
First flight model of Saturn booster (SA-1) installed on static test stand for preflight checkout, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, USA.
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!60
USSR launched 5-ton Sputnik IV into orbit and recovered dog passenger, the second time this feat was performed.
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!61
Robert H. Goddard launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket at Auburn, Massachusetts, USA, which traveled 184 feet in 21/2 seconds. This event was the "Kitty Hawk" of rocketry.
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!62
VANGUARD I, launched into orbit with life expectancy of perhaps a 1,000 years, a highly successful scientific satellite which proved that the earth is slightly pear shaped.
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!63
Vanguard I completed third year in orbit and was still transmitting. Vanguard I provided much useful data on orbits, including the slight pear-shape of the Earth and the effect of solar pressure. Vanguard also provided the second stage for the Able, Delta, and Able-Star, as well as the third stage of Scout, pioneering solid-propellant stages used in Polaris and Minuteman.
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!65
Charles J. Dolan named Associate Director of NASA's Langley Research Center. He had been associated with the NASA Space Task Group since its formation at Langley in November 1958.
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!66
Representatives of NASA and the French Committee for Space Research agreed on cooperative space science program in meeting at Washington, DC, USA.
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!67
NASA Thor-Delta fired Explorer X (P-14) into highly elliptical orbit (apogee of 148,000 miles, perigee of 100 miles) with instruments to transmit data on the nature of the magnetic fields and charged particles in this region of space where the Earth's magnetic field merges with that in interplanetary space.
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!68
USSR launched Spacecraft V, a more than 5-ton payload, and recovered capsule containing a dog named Little Star.
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!69
Its instruments recording a magnetic impulse, Explorer X became the first satellite to measure the shock wave generated by a solar flare.
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!70
Soviet press conference at Soviet Academy of Sciences in Moscow, at which Biochemist N.M. Sisakian announced that all six of Strelka's pups, on exhibit, were developing normally: "Our research on these animals, just completed, has proved that no dangerous consequences to the functioning of the organs have stemmed from the space flight. This problem has an important bearing on our preparations for man's orbiting."
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!71
NASA-USAF-USN rocket research X-15 flown to 169,600 feet by Joseph A. Walker, NASA pilot, the highest altitude ever reached by man and which included 2 minutes of weightlessness at the top of his climb. The X-15, powered by XLR-99 rocket engine designed to thrust it to 50 miles altitude and speeds of up to 4,000 miles per hour, was only run at three-quarters throttle.
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!72
Six hundred mice placed in altitude chamber for 6-week environmental exposure at Armour Research Foundation.
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!73
Marshall Space Flight Center announced that 1,640,000 pounds thrust was achieved in test of F-1 rocket engine thrust chamber static firing at Edward, Calif., a record thrust for a single chamber.
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!74
USAF Discoverer XXIII placed into polar orbit from Pacific Missile Range but reentry capsule stayed in orbit.
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!75
Radar tracking of planet Venus for 7 weeks by Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists had proved "astronomical yardstick" of 93,498,125 miles as the distance between the Earth and Sun (within 1,000 miles of error).
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!76
Attempt to recover capsule from Discoverer XXIII unsuccessful.
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!77
USSR announced that Maj. Yuri A. Gagarin had successfully orbited the Earth in a 108-minute flight in a 5-ton Vostok (East), the first man to make a successful orbital flight through space.
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!79
Mercury-Atlas (MA-3) launched unmanned Mercury spacecraft in orbital test from Atlantic Missile Range, which was destroyed at 16,000 feet by range safety officer, while Mercury capsule was boosted by escape tower rockets above Atlas and subsequently recovered intact.
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!80
Official Soviet report described preliminary weightlessness training of the Soviet cosmonauts as follows: "It was established that all selected cosmonauts possess a good ability to endure weightlessness up to 40 seconds, the cosmonaut can eat food liquid, semi-liquid, and solid; can perform delicate coordinated acts, such as writing or purposeful hand motions; can maintain communication by radio; can read; and, besides, can orient himself visually."
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!81
Explorer XI, a gamma-ray satellite, was successfully launched into orbit by NASA Juno II from Cape Canaveral.
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!82
NASA Ames Research Center measured the intensity of radiation from the hot gas over the nose of a model flying through the air at 42,300 feet per second. This speed was in excess of parabolic atmospheric entry speed and the data are significant in relation to development of lunar spacecraft. The speed, 11,100 feet per second higher than maximum air speed obtained previously, was achieved by firing the model from a light-gas gun into a high speed jet of air flowing in the opposite direction from a shock-driven wind tunnel.
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!83
Saturn booster firing of 30 seconds using timer at predetermined setting was successful in flight qualification test.
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!85
Saturn static firing of 44.17 seconds duration to test-fire detection system at engine position No. 2 was successful, the second SA-1 flight qualification test at Marshall Space Flight Center.
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!86
USSR's Izvestia headlined the result of Soviet radar probes of planet Venus, a report which said that the Venusian day was from 9 to 11 Earth days, and that the astronomical unit (mean distance from the Earth to the Sun) was computed at 149,457,000 kilometers (92,812,797 miles). These figures were at variance with detailed study by scientists of JPL and MIT.
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!87
Static test of 111 seconds duration of Saturn booster was successful, the final SA-1 flight qualification test of the S-I stage.
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!88
Cape Canaveral was opened for two days to the general public for the first time in its history.
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!89
FCC endorsed the ultimate creation of a commercial satellite system to be owned jointly by international telephone and telegraph companies and announced that it was calling a meeting on June 5 to explore "plans and procedures looking toward early establishment of an operable commercial communication satellite system."
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!91
In his second State of the Union Message President Kennedy reported to Congress regarding the space program: "With the advice of the Vice President, who is Chairman of the National Space Council, we have examined where we [United States] are strong and where we are not, where we may succeed and where we may not. . . . Now is the time to take longer strides--time for a great new American enterprise--time for this Nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement which in many ways may hold the key to our future on Earth."
President Kennedy set forth an accelerated space program based upon the long-range national goals of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth; early development of the Rover nuclear rocket; speed up the use of Earth satellites for worldwide communications; and provide "at the earliest possible time a satellite system for worldwide weather observation."
An additional $549 million was requested for NASA over the new administration March budget requests; $62 million was requested for DOD for starting development of a solid-propellant booster of the Nova class.
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!92
In his second State of the Union Message President Kennedy reported to Congress regarding the space program: "With the advice of the Vice President, who is Chairman of the National Space Council, we have examined where we [United States] are strong and where we are not, where we may succeed and where we may not. . . . Now is the time to take longer strides--time for a great new American enterprise--time for this Nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement which in many ways may hold the key to our future on Earth."
President Kennedy set forth an accelerated space program based upon the long-range national goals of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth; early development of the Rover nuclear rocket; speed up the use of Earth satellites for worldwide communications; and provide "at the earliest possible time a satellite system for worldwide weather observation."
An additional $549 million was requested for NASA over the new administration March budget requests; $62 million was requested for DOD for starting development of a solid-propellant booster of the Nova class.
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!93
First National Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Space, held at Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA., at which leading American space scientists and technologists appraised the current and future applications of space science and technology for human welfare. It was sponsored by NASA and the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, with the Aerospace Industries Association, Aerospace Medical Association, American Astronautical Society, American Institute of Biological Sciences, the American Rocket Society, the Electronic Industries Association, Frontiers of Science Foundation (Oklahoma), and the Institute of the Aerospace Sciences as cosponsors.
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!94
Freedom 7, Mercury spacecraft in which Alan B. Shepard, Jr., made his space flight on May 5, was a major drawing card at the Paris International Air Show. Details of the spacecraft and of Shepard's flight were related to about 650,000 visitors.
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!95
Atlas booster 111-D, to be used for Ranger I, was erected on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral.
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!96
USSR revealed first details concerning Cosmonaut Gagarin's orbital space flight on April 12, when application was made to the International Aeronautical Federation (FAI) to have flight made an official world record: Duration, 108 minutes; maximum altitude, 203 miles; launch site, cosmodrome at Baikonur (near Lake Aral); landing site, near village of Smelovka in Seratov region; launch booster, six-engine rocket with total boost of 20 million horsepower.
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!97
Deputy Premier Mikhail Khrunichev, chief coordinator of the Soviet Union's man-in-space program, died in Moscow.
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!98
A leading Istanbul newspaper, Milliyet, reported Turkish newsmen's reactions after seeing movies of both the Shepard and Gagarin space flights: "When the film was over the journalists asked the Soviet consul general: "In the Shepard film we followed all phases of his space flight, but in yours we followed only Khrushchev. . . . Why don't you show your space flight too?' The Tass correspondent on behalf of the consul general answered: '. . . We are mainly interested in people's excitement and reaction. This is what we wanted you to see.'
Gagarin may have gone into space, but this is not the impression of the journalists who saw both films: Shepard really went into space, not Gagarin, and in front of the whole world, too."
Nationwide Gallup poll was released in the USA which showed that 38 percent of those questioned thought the United States led in space research, while 38 percent thought the USSR led. The same balance also was tabulated on which Nation will be the first to place a man on the Moon.
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!99
Huge Saturn launch complex at Cape Canaveral dedicated in brief ceremony by NASA, construction of which was supervised by the Army Corps of Engineers. Giant gantry, weighing 2,800 tons and being 310 feet high, is largest movable land structure in North America.
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!100
Two pilots sealed in 8- by 12-foot simulated space cabin for 17-day round trip to the Moon, at the School of Aerospace Medicine, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
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!101
NASA announced accelerated recruiting of qualified scientists and engineers at its field centers to fill anticipated manpower requirements in the expanded space exploration program. During 1960 NASA interviewed 3,000 persons on 100 college campuses.
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!102
NASA Ad Hoc Task Group, created to survey launch vehicles and their development schedules pertinent to the manned lunar landing program.
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!103
NASA Ad Hoc Task Group, created on May 25 to survey launch vehicles and their development schedules pertinent to the manned lunar landing program, reported its findings.
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!104
British and Soviet scientists are unable to identify radio signals received by the Soviet Venus probe.
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!105
British and Soviet scientists were still unable to identify signals received since May 17 as being transmitted from the Soviet Venus probe launched on February 12.
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!106
Freedom 7 Mercury capsule displayed to approximately 750,000 visitors at the Rassegna International Electronic and Nuclear Fair at Rome, Italy.
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!107
NASA's Plum Brook nuclear test reactor at Sandusky, Ohio, USA, went critical for the first time. This reactor was begun in September 1956, and the facility presently has a staff of 100 persons, headed by Dr. Theodore M. Hallman.
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!108
NASA and the Argentine Comision Nacional de Investigaciones Espaciales signed a memorandum of understanding for a cooperative space science research program using sounding rockets.
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!109
Search for USSR Venus probe "lost" since February was ended at Jodrell Bank radio-telescope, as visiting Soviet space scientists, Alla Masevitch and Jouli Khodarev, prepared to leave. The USSR Venue probe was last commanded on February 12, 1961.
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!110
USAF Discoverer XXV placed into polar orbit by Thor-Agena B, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, USA.
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!111
Skin-divers parachuted north of Hawaii to recover the capsule of Discoverer XXV, which carried samples of common and rare metals.
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!112
Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet awarded 7,026 honors to those associated with the flight of the spaceship satellite Vostok I.
Nikita S. Khrushchev received the Order of Lenin and a third Gold Hammer and Sickle Medal for "guiding the creation and development of the rocket industry, science, and technology" which "opened up a new era in the conquest of space;" 7 outstanding scientists and designers received a second Gold Hammer and Sickle Medal; 95 designers, officials, and technicians received the title of Hero of Socialist Labor; and 6,924 workers, designers, scientists, and technicians received various orders and medals (Order of Lenin, 478 persons; Order of the Red Banner of Labor, 1,218; Order of the Red Star, 256; Order of the Badge of Honor, 1,789; and medals to 3,183 other persons).
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!113
Five-year agreement on scientific cooperation signed in Moscow by representatives of the academics of science of the USSR and Red China, according to Tass.
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!114
Mercury-Redstone booster for MR-4 flight was erected on pad 5 at Atlantic Missile Range.
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!115
Director of Marshall Space Flight Center directed that further engineering work on Saturn C-2 configuration would be discontinued, and that efforts would be applied to clarification of the Saturn C-3 and Nova concepts.
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!116
Mercury capsule was modified for MR-4 flight, with observation window replacing two viewports and with improved manual control system.
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!117
In an interview in U.S. News & World Report, NASA Administrator Webb stated that "the kind of overall space effort that President Kennedy has recommended . . . will put us there [on the Moon] first." This achievement, costing between $20 and $40 billion, "probably toward the $20 billion level . . . will be most valuable in other parts of our economy."
Mr. Webb said that the USSR did have an advantage in being able first to orbit a multi-manned spacecraft around the Earth and also around the Moon.
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!118
First launching of three active satellites in one shot, and the first launching of a satellite with nuclear power, when a Thor-Able-Star launched Transit IV-A (equipped with an atomic radioisotope-powered battery of the Snap series), and two accompanying satellites, Injun and Greb III, from Atlantic Missile Range.
Transit IV is forerunner of a navigation satellite system, while Injun gathers data on the radiation belts, and Greb III gathers data on X-ray radiation from the Sun.
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!119
Navy announced that Injun and Greb satellites placed in orbit with Transit IV-A had not separated and were thus not functioning at full efficiency.
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!120
The space detection and tracking systems (Spadats) began NORAD operations as scheduled, a system which "detects, tracks, and identifies manmade objects in space and consolidates and displays information regarding such objects."
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!121
NASA selects the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, USA as one of its centers.
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!122
NASA awarded contract with Boeing to investigate the development of large Saturn-Nova class rockets employing different combinations of liquid or solid types of fuel.
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!123
Israel fired a multistage solid-propellant Shavit (Meteor) II rocket to an altitude of 80 kilometers, releasing a sodium-cloud meteorological payload.
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!124
Major Gagarin, speaking in Helsinki, Finland, stated that the USSR would launch another manned space vehicle sometime before the end of the year.
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!125
Atlas E, launched from Cape Canaveral, established distance flight record of 9,050 miles, its nose cone landing 1,000 miles southeast of Cape Town, South Africa.
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!126
NASA announced that a complete F-1 engine had begun a series of static test firings at Edwards Rocket Test Center, California, USA.
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!127
NASA Tiros III weather satellite successfully launched into near-circular orbit by Thor-Delta from Cape Canaveral.
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!128
Midas III (missile defense alarm system) launched into polar orbit from Pacific Missile Range, with record 1,850-mile-high orbit and was heaviest U.S. satellite launched to date. Second-stage Agena B was restarted at apogee of first orbit.
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!129
Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced that construction was underway on the first large space simulator in the United States capable of testing full-scale spacecraft of the Ranger and Mariner classes with the three primary space effects-solar radiation, cold space heat sink, and a high vacuum equivalent to about one part in a billion (1:1,000,000,000) of the atmospheric pressure on the Earth.
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!130
FAI (Federal Aeronautique Internationale) officially recognized the first space flight records claimed by USSR and the United States:
Yuri Gagarin (April 12, 1961): Duration in orbital flight, 108 minutes; greatest altitude in Earth orbital flight, 203 miles; greatest mass lifted in Earth orbital flight, 10,395 pounds.
Alan Shepard (May 15 1961: Altitude without orbit, 115.696 miles; greatest mass lifted without Earth orbit, 4,031.7 pounds.
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!131
Saturn SA-T2 booster successfully static tested for 111 seconds at Marshall Space Flight Center.
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!132
Mercury-Redstone (MR-4) with manned Liberty Bell 7 capsule canceled within minutes of launch because of adverse weather.
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!133
MR-4 Liberty Bell 7, manned by Mercury Astronaut Virgil I. Grissom, made successful 15-minute, 118-mile-high and 303-mile-long flight down Atlantic Missile Range, premature blowout of escape hatch flooding capsule and making helicopter pickup of Grissom difficult. Capsule sank in 18,000 feet of water after warning light indicated helicopter engine was overheating and the capsule was cast loose.
This was the second successful manned sub-orbital space flight.
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!134
Astronaut Virgil Grissom was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal by Administrator Webb at conclusion of MR-4 press conference at Cape Canaveral.
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!135
White House issued statement by President Kennedy on "Communication Satellite Policy," which outlined governmental responsibilities for research and development "to give maximum assurance of rapid and continuous scientific and technological progress," and which affirmed that "private ownership and operation of the U.S. portion of the system is favored" within eight policy requirements. The President's statement said that through this country's leadership, communications through the use of space satellites should be developed "for global benefit at the earliest practicable date."
He invited "all nations to participate in a communication satellite system in the interest of world peace and closer brotherhood among peoples throughout the world." And, during present phase of research and development, "no arrangements between the Government and private industry [should] contain any commitments as to an operational system."
In conclusion, the President said that "I am anxious that development of this new technology to bring the farthest corner of the globe within reach by voice and visual communication, fairly and equitable available for use, proceed with all possible promptness."
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!136
Joint FAA-DOD-NASA "Commercial Supersonic Transport Aircraft Report," prepared by a joint task force, said that the development of a commercial transport airplane to fly three times the speed of sound (mach 3) was feasible and could be developed by 1970-71.
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!137
NASA and the American Telephone & Telegraph Co.(A.T. & T.) signed a cooperative agreement for the development and testing of two, possibly four, active communication satellites during 1962. A.T. & T. would design and build the TSX satellites at its own expense, and would reimburse NASA for the cost of the launchings by Thor-Delta vehicles at Cape Canaveral.
Relationship between this contract and the overall NASA communications satellite program aimed at early development of an operational system was explained at a NASA press conference.
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!138
Interviewed in the Netherlands West Indies, en route Brazil, Maj. Yuri Gagarin said that his next assignment would be a flight to the Moon. Asked about U.S. efforts, he reportedly stated that "there is a place on the Moon for everybody."
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!139
NASA Apollo briefing held at Space Task Group for all prime contractors interested in submitting bids.
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!140
USSR launched Vostok II into orbit carrying Maj. Gherman S. Titov. Spacecraft weighed 13 pounds more than Vostok I (April 12) and progress of Cosmonaut Titov's flight was reported continuously of Radio Moscow.
In press a conference at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, USA., U.S. Ambassador to the UN Adlai Stevenson, said: "Russia's scientific contribution to the conquest of outer space commands our admiration. Orbiting a new astronaut for a longer period of time is another step forward . . . this event [Vostok II] sharpens the need for some international action to regulate the use of outer space for peaceful purposes, and to keep the arms race from spreading to that field. The President has recently announced his proposal for cooperative sharing of communications and weather satellites. We hope the Russians won't delay longer in joining us in cooperation."
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!141
Reported from Moscow that Major Titov has successfully landed in Vostok II after 17 orbits and 25 hours, 18 minutes, the first test of man's reaction to prolonged weightlessness. This was the second manned orbital flight, the first manned flight of more than one orbit.
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!142
NASA selected MIT's Instrumentation Laboratory to develop the guidance-navigation system for Project Apollo spacecraft. This first major Apollo contract was required since guidance-navigation system is basic to overall Apollo mission.
The Instrumentation Laboratory of MIT, a nonprofit organization headed by C. Stark Draper, has been involved in a variety of guidance and navigation systems developments for 20 years.
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!143
Enormous reception for Cosmonaut Gherman S. Titov in Red Square, Moscow. That evening at a Kremlin reception, Premier Nikita Khrushchev made an impromptu speech in which he asserted that the Soviet Union could construct a rocket with an explosive warhead equivalent to 100 million tons of TNT.
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!144
Aerojet-General Corp. announced first successful underwater launching of a liquid-fueled rocket, an Aerobee fired from a water test basin at Azuza, California, USA.
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!145
Echo I completed first year in orbit, still clearly visible to the naked eye, after 4,480 orbits and traveling 138 million miles.
Echo I provided basis for over 150 communications experiments, recent ones indicating only a 40-percent reduction in transmission reflection caused by the changed shape. Echo I provided significant data on atmospheric drag and solar pressure.
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!146
Swedish scientists fired a U.S. Arcas rocket to 55.8-mile altitude from Arctic Circle test range at Vidsel.
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!147
Explorer XII (S-3) placed into highly eccentric orbit by Thor-Delta from Atlantic Missile Range, which would provide detailed evaluation of behavior of energetic particles between 170- and 50-000-mile altitude. Under Goddard Space Flight Center, this "windmill" satellite carried six experiments developed by Ames Research Center, State University of Iowa, University of New Hampshire, and Goddard Space Flight Center. Several days were required to confirm orbit.
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!148
F-1 rocket engine tested in first of firing series of the complete flight system.
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!149
Centaur vehicle C-1 was tested and accepted by Marshall Space Flight Center.
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!150
NASA announced that Explorer XII had successfully completed first orbit, radioing data on magnetic fields and solar radiation from an apogee of nearly 54,000 miles and perigee within 170 miles of the Earth.
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!151
NASA announced that analysis of Project Mercury sub-orbital data indicated that all objectives of that phase of the program had been achieved, and that no further Mercury-Redstone flights were planned.
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!152
University of Michigan astronomers reported reception of natural radio signals from the planet Mercury.
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!153
Saturn H-1 engine drop-tested into salt water at Cape Canaveral, then returned to Marshall Space Flight Center for inspecting, cleaning, and static firing.
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!154
NASA announced decision to launch manned lunar flights and other missions requiring Saturn and Nova class vehicles from expanded Cape Canaveral facilities. Based upon national space goals announced by the President in May, NASA plans called for acquisition of 80,000 acres north and west of AFMTC, to be administered by the USAF as agent for NASA and as a part of the Atlantic Missile Range.
Decision followed intensive NASA-DOD survey for launching facilities, including trajectory advantages, overflight or booster impact hazards, air and water transportation, instrumentation support, and cost, time, and land availability advantages.
Expansion of Cape Canaveral was noted as first of three major steps in accelerating the U.S. space program, the remaining two steps being a manned space flight research center, and a booster fabrication and test facility.
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!155
Explorer XIII (S-55A) placed into orbit by NASA Scout from Wallops, a micrometeorite counting satellite developed by Langley Research Center and Goddard Space Flight Center.
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!156
NASA announced that Explorer XIII launched on August 25 had reentered the atmosphere. Transmitting considerable data on micrometeoroids, spacecraft was last heard on August 27 by the Minitrack facility at Antofagasta, Chile.
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!157
Ranger I test satellite of unmanned lunar spacecraft, launched from Atlantic Missile Range by Atlas D-Agena B into low parking orbit, but did not attain its programmed eccentric orbit.
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!159
Ranger I completed 100 orbits, transmitting data on all engineering devices and eight scientific experiments. It was expected to come down soon.
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!161
NASA announced that Ranger I spacecraft had reentered the Earth's atmosphere. Launched on August 23, Ranger I made 111 orbits, traveled almost 3 million miles, and its orientation, communications, and electronic systems performed satisfactorily.
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!162
USSR announced policy of resumption of nuclear weapon testing which had been suspended March 31, 1958, and that bombs can be delivered anywhere in the world by "powerful rockets like those Majs. Yuri Gagarin and Gherman Titov rode to begin their unrivaled space flights around the Earth."
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!163
White House announced that the USSR had resumed testing of nuclear weapons early this morning, the first known nuclear test by USSR, United States, or Britain since the fall of 1958.
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!164
Three parachuting skin-divers recovered capsule of Discoverer XXIX, the seventh recovery of an object from orbit in the USAF Discoverer program.
Capsule had made 33 orbits and contained human, animal, and soil life samples.
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!165
Scientists at Nagoya University, Japan, were reported to be training monkey for space flight next year, hopefully in conjunction with Japanese Government-financed rocket program carried out by Tokyo University's Institute of Industrial Science.
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!166
Unmanned Mercury spacecraft orbited by Mercury-Atlas launch vehicle from Atlantic Missile Range and recovered 1 hour and 22 minutes after landing by destroyer U.S.S. Decatur. This MA-4 (capsule 8) flight demonstrated, said NASA Space Task Group Director Robert Gilruth, that "Atlas has the capability to fly a man in orbit; it brought in for the first time the Mercury worldwide tracking network; and demonstrated the ability of the capsule and its systems to operate completely unattended.
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!167
USAF C-130B cargo plane snagged the parachuting capsule of Discoverer XXX north of Hawaii, Capt. W. C. Schmensted as pilot.
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!168
AEC announced that the Soviet Union had fired its 10th nuclear blast in the current test series begun 2 weeks ago.
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!170
First of four scheduled Skylark rocket firings was launched from Woomera in the joint United States-Australian ultraviolet survey of the southern skies.
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!171
NASA Administrator Webb announced that location of the new Manned Spacecraft Center would be in Houston, Tex., the conclusion of an intensive nationwide study by a site selection team.
The Manned Spacecraft Center would be the command center for the manned lunar landing mission and all follow-on manned space flight missions. This announcement was the third basic decision on major facilities required for the expanded U.S. Range and the establishment of the spacecraft fabrication center at the Michoud Ordnance Plant near New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
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!172
D. Brainerd Holmes was appointed NASA's Director of Manned Space Flight Programs. As general manager of RCA's Major Defense Systems Division, Holmes was project manager for the Ballistic missile early warning system (BMEWS).
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!174
Beginning of the fifth year of the "space age," being the anniversary of the launching of Sputnik I (1957).
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!175
Soviet scientists in Washington for 12th IAF Congress revealed that Maj. Gherman Titov was ill during his 17 orbits in Vostok II on August 6. Disorientation, nausea, and irregular heartbeat resulted from prolonged weightlessness, according to O. G. Gazenko and V.J. Yazdovsky of the Soviet Academy of Sciences.
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!176
Atomic Energy Commission announced that the Tory II-A-1 nuclear test reactor underwent tests on September 28 and October 5-6. Power levels of the test were not disclosed but advanced plans called for tests at full power. The test was for "about 1 minute" at temperatures "in excess of 2,000■F." and emission of radiation was "negligible."
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!177
Second stage of Nike-Zeus exploded at 2-miles altitude in test launch.
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!178
Army Nike-Zeus fired from White Sands Proving Ground met all test objectives, including controlled high-velocity in the atmosphere and evaluation of solid-fuel rocket motors and guidance system.
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!179
White House announced that AEC-DOD had conducted first U.S. nuclear weapons test since October 1958, and underground weapons development test at the Nevada testing site, one of low yield and which produced no fallout.
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!180
USSR announced that third flight of current series of Pacific tests of new multistage carrier rocket was successful.
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!181
USSR launched fourth multistage rocket 7,500 miles into the Pacific.
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!182
NASA Argo D-4 rocket was launched from Wallops, reaching an altitude of 585 miles and landing 817 miles out in the Atlantic, to gather data on the density of electrically charged helium atoms in the upper atmosphere.
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!183
X-15 flown more than 40 miles into space-217,000 feet-and reached a speed of 3,647 miles per hour, Maj. Robert White, U.S. Air Force, as pilot.
This was above 99.9 percent of Earth's atmosphere; pilot's heartbeat and respiration rose to twice above normal; and outside skin temperature of the X-15 rose to 900■F on reentry.
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!184
NASA Administrator Webb, speaking to the American Rocket Society, said NASA scientists "are going to consider the rendezvous technique with great care before going ahead with Nova."
Decision on whether to give priority to the rendezvous technique would probably be made by the end of 1961, he said.
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!185
Jacqueline Cochran set woman's altitude record of 56,071.3 feet, in Northrop T-38 jet trainer at Edwards Air Force Base.
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!186
Discoverer XXXII was placed into polar orbit; its capsule contained components of USAF satellite systems. This marked the 100th successful firing of the Thor booster rocket.
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!187
On its second birthday in space, Explorer VII was still transmitting although it had been scheduled to stop a year ago.
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!188
The Soviet Union announced it had fired fifth multistage rocket 7,500 miles into the Central Pacific, with all stages functioning perfectly and with the nose cone landing in the target area with a high degree of accuracy.
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!189
Capsule of Discoverer XXXII recovered by C-130 piloted by Capt. Warren Schensted, U.S. Air Force, the sixth aerial recovery of an ejected satellite capsule and Schensted's second catch. Capsule contained test objects including seed corn.
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!190
NASA Argo D-4 launched from Wallops Station carried United States; Canadian topside sounding satellite payload to 560-mile altitude.
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!191
USSR claimed a new world speed record for verti-planes on a closed 62-mile circuit at 209 miles per hour. Tass said this exceeded the previous record of 191 miles per hour held by a New Zealander, G. Ellith, flying a British Rotordyne.
The following day, Tass claimed a horizontal speed of 228 miles per hour for the Kamov verti-plane.
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!192
USAF-USN-NASA X-15 flown to 108,600 feet and a record speed of 3,900 miles per hour, piloted by Joseph Walker at Edwards, California, USA.
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!193
Project West Ford received approval in National Aeronautics and Space Council policy statement released at the National Academy of Sciences by Presidential Scientific Adviser Jerome B. Wiesner.
Conceived at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory, project proposed placement of 350-million copper threads (0.7-inch long and 0.001-inch diameter) into a 5-mile wide and 24-mile long belt around the Earth from a satellite, which would serve as reflector antennas for extremely short wave lengths (8,000 megacycles), perhaps expanding usable frequency channels.
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!194
Sir Bernard Lovell, director of the radio-telescope at Jodrell Bank, England, expressed concern in an interview about the USAF Project West Ford, to place 350 million small pieces of wire into an orbital band encircling the Earth at a height of 500 to 1,000 miles.
Sir Bernard stated that "the published intention of the plan is to provide a reflector for radio communications from one side of the Earth to the other. Those of us who have studied this notice it is being carried out under the auspices of the USAF and not the NASA. . . ."
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!195
Soviet Union protested to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences that Project West Ford might endanger Soviet cosmonauts, protest contained in a letter to Detlev W. Bronk, president of the NAS, signed by Matislav Keldysh, president of the Soviet Academy of Sciences.
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!196
Project West Ford given final approval by the White House.
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!197
USAF Midas IV launched into polar orbit from Pacific Missile Range, and also carried Project West Ford payload.
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!198
Assistant Secretary of State of International Organization Affairs, Harlan Cleveland, outlined in a speech at St. Louis University the seven-point program that the United States will propose to the United Nations General Assembly for guaranteeing peace and world cooperation in space:
(1) Explicit confirmation that the UN Charter applies to the limits of space exploration;
(2) a declaration that space and heavenly bodies are not subject to claim of national sovereignty;
(3) an international system for registering all objects launched into space;
(4) a specialized space unit in the United Nations Secretariat;
(5) a world weather watch using satellites;
(6) a cooperative search for ways toward weather modification; and
(7) a global system of communications to link the world by telegraph, telephone, radio, and television.
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!199
The Freedom 7 Mercury capsule in which Alan B. Shepard, Jr., made the first sub-orbital space flight, was presented to the National Air Museum of the Smithsonian Institution.
In his presentation, NASA Administrator Webb said: "To Americans seeking answers, proof that man can survive in the hostile realm of space is not enough. A solid and meaningful foundation for public support and the basis for our Apollo man-in-space effort is that U.S. astronauts are going into space to do useful work in the cause of all their fellow men."
"Such flights as those of Freedom 7 are not stunts. They are not antithetical to sober scientific and technological research. Interpreted properly, these dramatic events can add much to public understanding and excite creative interest in extending the base on which public support must rest."
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!200
Ranger launching again postponed at Atlantic Missile Range because of technical difficulties.
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!201
USAF Discoverer XXXIII failed to achieve polar orbit.
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!202
First underwater launching of Navy Polaris A-2, and first firing from submarine, U.S.S. Ethan Allen.
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!203
AEC announced that the Soviet Union had detonated a thermonuclear bomb with a 30-megaton yield as well as a small underwater nuclear device. These were the 22nd and 23rd Soviet nuclear tests reported by AEC.
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!204
USAF announced that Project West Ford's 350 million depoles launched with Midas IV had not yet been found by radar contact.
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!205
Ranger 2 shot postponed indefinitely as the 8-day "window" (i.e., when the Moon, Sun, and Earth were in favorable positions) had ended before technical difficulties could be corrected.
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!206
Largest known rocket launch to date, the Saturn 1st stage booster, successful on first test flight from Atlantic Missile Range. With its eight clustered engines developing almost 1.3 million pounds of thrust at launch, the Saturn (SA-1) hurled water-filled dummy upper stages to an altitude of 84.8 miles and 214.7 miles down range.
In a postlaunch statement, Administrator Webb said: "The flight today was a splendid demonstration of the strength of our national space program and an important milestone in the buildup of our national capacity to launch heavy payloads necessary to carry out the program projected by President Kennedy on May 25. We in NASA deeply appreciate the contribution by the military services and American industry in achieving this important milestone."
Development of Saturn had begun under Advanced Research Projects Agency auspices in 1958.
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!207
USSR announced completion of its series of Pacific rocket tests with a successful shot of 7,500 miles. Since series began on September 13, Tass had announced a total of eight shots, emphasizing the accuracy of what was described as a "fundamentally new type of guidance system."
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!208
USSR exploded 55- to 60-megaton nuclear device as per Khrushchev's promise to the 22nd Communist Party Congress. White House release later in the day pointed out that this Soviet explosion would "produce more radioactive fallout than any previous explosion. The Soviet explosion was a political rather than a military act."
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!209
Launch of Mercury-Scout canceled at T minus 10 seconds at Atlantic Missile Range because of mechanical difficulties.
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!210
Mercury-Scout, testing global tracking network, was destroyed by range safety officer after lift-off.
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!212
NASA announced start of a nationwide recruiting drive for 2,000 talented scientists and engineers.
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!213
Nine-nation Western European Conference in London announced decision to launch a satellite in mid-1965, using a British Blue Streak first stage, a French Veronique second stage, and a West German third stage, from the Woomera range in Australia.
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!214
Explosion in hydrogen system canceled full-power run of AEC Kiwi B-1A reactor at Jackson Flats, Nev. Five men were injured, and the reactor was not damaged.
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!215
NASA announced award of a contract to North American Aviation Co. to study the feasibility of a large erectable manned space station based on Langley Research Center concept.
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!216
X-15 flown to announced record 4,070 miles per hour (later revised to 4,093) by Maj. Robert White, U.S. Air Force, in top-speed test flight, making safe landing with outer right windshield cracked.
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!217
Mercury-Atlas 5, scheduled for launch no earlier than November 14, ran into technical difficulties, postponing launch for several days.
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!218
USAF Discoverer XXXV launched into polar orbit with 300-pound recoverable capsule.
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!219
Anniversary of the first flight of the USAF-USN-NASA X-15 powered with the XLR-99 engine (15 flights total to date). A $225 million research program under NASA management, test data indicated that X-15 would exceed its design limits by 100 percent in altitude and 17 percent in speed.
The X-15 had already pushed near its design altitude limit of 250,000 feet (reached 217,000 feet October 11, 1961) and passed its maximum design speed of mach 6 (reached mach 6.04 November 9, 1961).
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!220
Army launched Speedball rocket successfully from the island of Roi-Namur on Kwajalein atoll in the Southwest Pacific, the first target rocket to be used in Nike-Zeus development.
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!221
Gold-plated capsule of Discoverer XXXV recovered after 18 orbits in midair over Fern Island by C-130 aircraft, Capt. James F. McCullough, U.S. Air Force, as pilot.
It was the 10th recovery from orbit in the Discoverer series and the 1st recovery observed from the ground.
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!222
Army Nike-Zeus antimissile rocket with active second stage successfully fired at Point Mugu, California, USA.
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!223
First USAF Minuteman successfully fired from silo at Atlantic Missile Range, making 3,000-mile flight.
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!224
Ranger II placed into low orbit from Atlantic Missile Range by Atlas, but Agena second stage did not restart, leaving deep-space probe Ranger in parking orbit.
Results reported to delay lunar-landing Ranger shot in early 1962.
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!225
Evidence of traces of living things in meteorites from space reaching Earth, reported in Nature magazine by George Claus of NYU and Bartholomew Nagy of Fordham, based upon discovery of five types of "organized structures" in the Orgueil meteorite found in southern France in 1864, and the Ivuna meteorite that fell in central Africa in 1938.
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!227
Titan ICBM launched from Cape Canaveral carrying target nose cone to be used in Nike-Zeus antimissile-missile tests. This was first Titan ICBM to be fired from Cape Canaveral by a military crew, AFBSD's 6555th Aerospace Test Wing.
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!228
Tiros II completed first year in orbit, still transmitting cloud-cover photographs of usable quality, although it has been expected to have a useful lifetime of only 3 months.
Tiros II had completed 5,354 orbits, and had transmitted over 36,000 photographs.
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!229
Official Soviet films on the flight of Vostok II shown on nationwide TV in NBC program, "Crossing the Threshold-Part I."
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!230
USAF reported that Lincoln Laboratory's Millstone Hill radar at West Ford, Mass., had made three sightings on November 3, 13, and 15, which might be the missing package of 350 million copper needles launched into orbit on October 21.
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!231
NASA selected North American Aviation to design and build a three-man Apollo spacecraft leading toward eventual lunar landings and exploration of the Moon.
Each proposal was evaluated by a team of nearly 200 NASA and DOD specialists.
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!232
Mercury-Atlas 5 launch from Cape Canaveral placed Mercury spacecraft carrying chimpanzee "Enos" into orbit; retro-rockets were fired on second rather than planned third orbit because of developing malfunction of altitude control system. Mercury capsule was recovered 1 hour and 25 minutes after water landing by the destroyer Stormes, and well-performing "Enos" recovered in excellent condition.
Project Mercury officials named John H. Glenn as prime astronaut for the first manned orbital mission with M. Scott Carpenter as backup, and Donald Slayton as prime astronaut for second manned orbital mission with Walter Schirra as backup.
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!233
Nike-Zeus guidance system successfully passed initial flight test at White Sands Missile Range.
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!234
Navy-sponsored Hypersonic Propulsion Research Laboratory, for simulating flights at speeds up to mach 10, was opened at Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University.
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!235
Reported from Cape Canaveral that Astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr., had moved into "ready room" quarters. NASA had made no announcement whether a man would ride in the next Mercury capsule.
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!236
A new world aircraft altitude record for sustained horizontal flight was claimed by Comdr. George W. Ellis, U.S. Navy, who flew an F4H Phantom II at 66,443.8 feet over Edwards Air Force Base, California, USA.
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!237
Astronauts Alan B. Shepard, Jr., commander, U.S. Navy, and Virgil I. Grissom, captain, U.S. Air Force, were awarded the first astronaut wings (almost identical design of a shooting star imposed on the traditional pilot's badge) in a joint ceremony by their respective services.
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!238
Plans for the development of a two-man Mercury capsule were announced by Robert Gilruth, Director of NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center. The two-man capsule, to be built by McDonnell Aircraft Corp., would be similar in shape to the Mercury capsule but slightly larger and two to three times heavier. Its booster rocket was announced to be the USAF Titan II, scheduled for flight test early in 1962.
One of the major objectives in the two-man capsule program would be a test of orbital rendezvous, in which the two-man capsule would be put into orbit by the Titan II and would attempt to rendezvous with an Agena stage put into orbit by an Atlas rocket. Total cost for a dozen two-man capsules plus boosters and other equipment was estimated at $500,000,000. Program name later announced as Gemini.
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!239
The UN's Political Committee unanimously approved a resolution calling on the Committee of Peaceful Uses of Outer Space to meet on March 31, 1962, to begin discussions of world cooperation in space. The resolution essentially incorporated the four-point U.S. program on the peaceful uses of outer space. The USSR supported the resolution although it had previously rendered the Committee inoperative by boycotting its meetings.
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!240
Discoverer XXXVI was launched by the USAF into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., with a piggyback 10-pound Oscar (orbiting satellite carrying amateur radio) satellite aboard in addition to the Discoverer payload. Oscar was the first satellite built by private citizens to be put in orbit, transmitted Morse signal to world amateur radio operators.
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!241
Army announced that track radar for Nike-Zeus antimissile missile had successfully tracked an Atlas ICBM on November 22 from Ascension Island as well as Echo I 1,500 miles from Earth.
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!242
NASA Administrator James E. Webb said in a speech in Cleveland that the United States would follow its first manned orbital flight in January 1962 with similar manned orbital flights every 60 days.
These would gather data on effects of weightlessness, needed to determine the pacing of the two-man flight program later on. Mr. Webb also forecast the launching of 200 sounding rockets, 20 scientific satellites, and 2 deep-space probes in 1962.
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!243
NASA announced that the first station in a network of data-gathering stations for use with second-generation satellites had been completed near Fairbanks, Alaska, USA. Site for the second of the $5 million installations, each with a high-gain antenna 85 feet in diameter, was announced to be Rosman, NC, USA, 40 miles south-west of Asheville.
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!244
Capsule from Discoverer XXXVI was ejected from orbit after 6 days and a record of 64 orbits, landed in the Pacific near Hawaii, was kept afloat by 3 USAF para-rescue men until arrival of Navy destroyer.
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!245
Successful test of a new way to steer large-size rockets was announced by United Technology Corp., an experimental method called liquid thrust vector control (TVC), in which a gas or liquid is sprayed into the exhaust path of a rocket engine, deflecting the exhaust and thereby turning the vehicle. The test was made with a 450,000-pound-thrust solid-fuel engine.
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!246
Titan II, an advanced ICBM and the booster designated for NASA's two-man orbital flights, was successfully captive-fired for the first time at the Martin Co.'s Denver facilities. The test not only tested the flight vehicle but the checkout and launch equipment intended for operational use.
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!247
NASA established a Management Council to ensure the orderly and timely progress in the manned space flight programs. The Council, composed of senior officials from NASA headquarters, Marshall Space Flight Center, and the Manned Spacecraft Center, and chaired by D. Brainerd Holmes, Director of the Office of Manned Space Flight, would meet at least once a month to identify and resolve problems as early as possible and to coordinate the interface problems.
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!258
195th anniversary (1801), Piazzi's discovery of the first asteroid (Ceres)
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!259
10th Anniversary (1986), Voyager 2, Uranus flyby
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!260
Joseph Lagrange's 260th Birthday (1736)
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!261
10th Anniversary (1986), space shuttle Challenger explosion
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!262
25th Anniversary (1971), Apollo 14 launch (3rd manned moon landing)
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!263
30th Anniversary (1966), Luna 9 launch (Soviet Moon Lander)
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!264
Comet Hale-Bopp reappears from behind the sun
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!265
Mir Spacewalk successful
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!266
10th Anniversary (1986), Mir Space Station launch (Soviet Union)
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!267
215th Anniversary (1781), Herschel's discovery of Uranus
